India on Monday appointed finance ministry bureaucrat Sanjay Malhotra to helm the country鈥檚 central bank, a day before his predecessor鈥檚 term was due to end.
Sanjay will steer monetary policy in the world鈥檚 fifth-largest聽economy聽after weeks of speculation over whether his predecessor Shaktikanta Das would have his term extended again.聽
A notification from the Indian cabinet鈥檚 appointments committee said Sanjay had been appointed to lead the Reserve Bank of India for a 鈥榩eriod of three years鈥� starting from Wednesday.
Sanjay is an engineering graduate and has a master鈥檚 degree in public policy from Princeton University, according to the finance ministry website.
Currently the secretary of the revenue department, he will take charge at a time when pressure has been building on the RBI to cut interest rates as economic growth slows.
India鈥檚聽economy聽expanded at 5.4 per cent in the September quarter, a nearly two-year low and well below the RBI鈥檚 estimates of 7 per cent.
Despite this, the central bank鈥檚 monetary policy committee has held interest rates steady at 6.50 per cent since February 2023, citing ongoing inflation risks.
Local media reports had earlier speculated over the future of Das 鈥� first appointed to head the RBI in 2018 鈥� after India鈥檚 September quarter GDP data missed estimates.聽
鈥楽everal quarters of the government have voiced the need for lower interest rates considering inflation excluding food prices,鈥� analyst Teresa John of Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said in a note.
Sanjay was 鈥榣ikely to be familiar with the current thinking in government circles and amenable to their views,鈥� she added.
John said that her firm expected a rate cut by February with growth increasingly likely to 鈥榰ndershoot the RBI鈥檚 forecast鈥�.